BPL Community Profile

Mary D
(hikinggranny) -
BPL Lifetime Member

My Locale

Gateway to Columbia River Gorge

About Me

60-odd years of hiking and backpacking experience, mostly in Rockies and in Pacific Northwest. Relatively recent convert (started 6 years ago) to lightweight backpacking. Continue to do a lot of gear research to lighten load further.

State

Oregon

Country

USA

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All Forum Posts by Mary D

More on bear sprayActually, if a grizz attacks your tent (highly unlikely unless you have food inside and haven't already been attacked by mice or marmots), the bear spray won't do much good--you'll be s...

My experiences with SMD have been pleasantI, too, once received what was apparently a defective product from SMD. It was a pack, and after the second trip with it I noticed that the stitching between the pack body and extension collar was...

**rule** chose bright colored gear?This advice is comletely contrary to the "Leave No Trace" ethic:
http://lnt.org/learn/principle-7
"Bright clothing and equipment, such as tents can be seen for long distances are d...

Rain and TentsTents need to have ventilation, especially when everything is wet. I personally have had a lot more problems with double-wall tents than with single-wall. At least with the latter, you can reach ...

Bear Spray in The Winds?I haven't run into any bears because I've avoided those areas, but I'm told that food-raiding black bears are common in the Big Sandy Lake and Cirque of the Towers areas, in the trails...

RIP, HyssonThe other end of dog ownership from that cute puppy who chews up your furniture, digs up your lawn sprinkler and piddles on your carpet:
My beloved backpacking buddy Hysson died peacefully in my...

Base weight vs. pack weightOk, this is the accountant in me coming out: I divide my pack contents into two parts, fixed weight and variable weight. The first, of course, is items that are the same regardless of length of t...

Request for username changeI agree with Ben; changing your email address is probably the best way. The alternative is several dozen emails and maybe a like number of USnail Mail letters to Ryan Jordan in hope he might possi...

daughter moving to a down bag / quiltTerry, have your daughter try using her current sleeping bag as a quilt (zipper undone and used on top) for a couple of nights. That will give you at least some idea if she will adapt to a grownup...

All Reader Reviews by Mary D

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Review

Category

Thermarest Neo-AirI purchased a short NeoAir in late May of 2009 from REI (using the 20% off coupon, which made it a less exorbitant purchase). The prospect of an air mat that was considerably lighter than my POE Insu...

Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Dry SackIn the past, I've read in a number of places (including Jim Wood's excellent article on "Keeping Your Critical Gear Dry") that these sacks have failed the submersion test. This prob...

Pacific Outdoor Products Insul Mat Max-ThermoMy POE Insulmat Max Thermo (now the Ether Thermo, but I got the old model on closeout) just finished its second backpacking season.
I'm in my early 70's so these old bones and joints ain...

Big Agnes ClearviewI know that this pad is supposedly the same thickness as my POE InsulMat Max Thermo (now the Ether Thermo). However, it has more tubes, which seem to make it effectively thinner. The Clearview has t...

SteriPen AdventurerMy big complaint with the Steripen Adventurer is that I could not work the switch! It's fine for those with big strong hands (the kind who regularly open jars for their SO), but not for me (I can...

Six Moon Designs Lunar SoloI bought a Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo (e) in June of 2007 and used it through two backpacking seasons.
First of all, I need to point out that my Labrador retriever backpacks with me (he's part...

Backcountrygear.comI am a relatively recent convert to lightweight backpacking (I didn't know all this wonderful stuff existed--you'd never know it from a trip through REI or by reading Backpacker) and this is m...